Ramsbury 'Castle'

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Remmesbury

In the civil parish of Ramsbury. In the historic county of Wiltshire (Modern Authority of Wiltshire, 1974 county of Wiltshire).

In the early to mid 12th century the Bishops of Salisbury moved their Ramsbury residence to the well-documented site at Ramsbury Manor Park (qv). Prior to that time it is thought that the episcopal residence was located within the settlement, adjacent to the cathedral (Crowley 1983), although there is as yet no archaeological evidence to confirm this. A possible site for this component may lie to the west of the present churchyard, between the church and what is now Burdett Street. Burdett Street was known in the Medieval period as Castle Wall or Castle Street (ibid.), and in this context ‘castle’, rather than denoting a defensive stronghold, may be derived from the Latin castrum or Old English caester or ceaster, denoting an early political centre or seat of administrative power (Darvill, T.C. 1992. Monuments Protection Programme, Monument evaluation manual, part IV – urban areas, Vol. 2: urban area form descriptions (English Heritage, London)). This theory, based solely on place-name evidence, requires archaeological research to determine the true nature of the site. (Mcmahon p11)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU273716

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website, or elsewhere.

• Books
  • Mcmahon, Phil, 2004, The Archaeology of Wiltshire’s Towns An Extensive Urban Survey Ramsbury (Wiltshire County Archaeology Service) http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-906-1/dissemination/pdf/EUS_Texts/Ramsbury.pdf
    Crowley, D.A., 1983. ‘Ramsbury Hundred’ in Elrington, C.R. (ed) VCH Wiltshire Vol12 (Oxford University Press for the University of London Institute of Historical Research) p19-22 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66514
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) p172-176 [available via http://ethos.bl.uk ]